Rauner calls for unity ahead of special session

As Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield with a goal of ending a two-year budget stalemate, Gov. Bruce Rauner Tuesday issued a call for unity

In a brief speech delivered in the House chamber of the Old State Capitol that was closed to the public and news media -- but was broadcast on Rauner's Facebook page -- the Republican governor underscored the gravity of the situation facing lawmakers starting Wednesday.

“Failure to act is not an option,” Rauner said in the speech that lasted a little over three minutes. “Failure to act may cause permanent damage to our state that will take years to overcome.”

Rauner called for lawmakers to support a Republican budget plan released last week that would set state spending at $36 billion a year for the next four years. Rauner called it a “compromise budget plan that I can sign, one that we all can support.”

Rauner said the plan “provides a real path toward property tax reduction,” and he also repeated his demand for term limits on legislative leaders and the six statewide elected officials.

“If we can agree to pass it, we can stop this unnecessary crisis,” the governor said.

Words vs. action

But at this stage of what has become a very bitter political standoff, unity may be difficult.

Rep. Greg Harris of Chicago, chief budget negotiator for the House Democrats, said Rauner “is talking out of both sides of his mouth.” Harris was responding on behalf of the House Democrats.

“As he holds a campaign speech ostensibly calling for unity, he’s also bankrolling negative attack ads and mailers against House Democrats and the very people he is calling on to work with,” Harris said in a statement.

Despite Rauner's contention, Harris said the Republican spending plan is not balanced and needs more negotiation and compromise.

“Governor Rauner, your actions speak louder than your rhetoric,” Harris said. “After more than 700 days of blocking compromise, it’s up to you to prove that you are finally ready to put the needs of Illinois families ahead of political games and start working in good faith on a budget.”

Prior to the speech, Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said Rauner's words weren't likely to make any difference.

“Not by him giving a speech,” Cullerton told the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board. “You have a meeting. You exchange information.”

To that end, Cullerton said he thought it would be productive for the four legislative leaders to sit down and discuss where everyone stands on the budget and other issues pending before the legislature. In an appearance Monday night on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, Cullerton said the four of them could “work this out without the governor being in the room. It might actually be more effective to do that.”

'Arduous task'

Rauner’s call for unity came just days after he began airing an ad attacking House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago.

“Mike Madigan will do anything to keep power, even take down Illinois,” the ad opens. “Madigan’s puppets blocked the budget, stopped property tax relief and now want to raise taxes by billions.”

Cullerton told the Sun-Times Tuesday that the ads are not productive in getting people to work toward an agreement.

“When you sit down and tell somebody, 'Oh, by the way, I can’t wait to work with you on a budget,' and spending $1 million saying you’re a crook, as his lines are directed at the speaker, it’s not helpful,” Cullerton said.

Before Rauner began airing his ad, the Illinois Republican Party, which is mostly financed by Rauner, sent mailers into Democratic districts criticizing them for supporting a Senate Democrat plan to balance the budget and raise taxes.

“It all paints a very arduous task to reach compromise,” said Madigan spokesman Steve Brown. “I don’t quite understand how you’re compromising with attacking the people you want to compromise with over issues that are part of the compromise.”

In that atmosphere, the House and Senate will convene at noon Wednesday, summoned into special session by Rauner to address the state’s budget fiasco. The House has scheduled several committee hearings starting Wednesday and continuing through Friday. Most of the hearings are scheduled to hear testimony about budget issues.

The Senate does not have any committee hearings scheduled, but Cullerton said the Senate is prepared to address additional issues beyond the budget because he will have them meet in a regular session to run concurrently with the special session.

“We’re going to have some actions we’ll take in regular session,” Cullerton said.

No stopgap

The Senate has approved a $37.3 billion spending plan and a $5.4 billion tax hike needed to balance the budget. The Democrats, who control the chamber, say their budget includes about $3 billion in spending cuts.

Last week, several Republican lawmakers outlined their own $36 billion spending plan that they said contains about $5 billion in cuts. Rauner endorses that plan.

“I think it would be very difficult to pass a different budget than the one we actually voted on,” Cullerton told Chicago Tonight. “I don’t know just where those cuts would come from. I know one thing, you’d get fewer votes with the more cuts you put in the bill.”

The Republican lawmakers, and Rauner, also said that if Democrats approve the GOP spending plan, along with things like term limits, workers' compensation changes, pension reform and other measures, they’d be willing to consider a tax hike. However, the Republicans want the income tax increase that is part of the Democrats' plan limited to four years. The Senate Democrat bill makes the income tax increase permanent.

Rauner also is demanding that lawmakers approve a four-year property tax freeze. The Senate has approved only a two-year freeze. The House has yet to take up the property tax freeze bills.

Cullerton said he is concerned with how a four-year freeze would affect less-affluent school districts.

One option that lawmakers have resorted to in the past appears to be off of the table. Cullerton said he doesn’t support another stopgap budget like the one lawmakers passed last year. The stopgap provided six months of spending authority for many state operations, but authorized a full year of spending for K-12 education. Lawmakers did not vote to increase taxes to pay for the spending, which has contributed to the state’s ballooning pile of overdue bills.

Cullerton said it would be irresponsible to approve another stopgap without the revenue to pay for it.

Rauner has also rejected the idea of another stopgap unless lawmakers meet a number of other conditions.

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